Jury: Former Pastor Guilty of Sexual Exploitation

San Antonio Express-News
August 25, 2012

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/article/Jury-Former-pastor-guilty-of-sexual-exploitation-3813627.php

A former Pella pastor has been convicted by a jury of sexually exploiting women in his congregation.

The Des Moines Register reports 42-year-old Patrick Edouard will be sentenced in October on four counts of sexual exploitation and of having a pattern, practice, or scheme to sexually exploit.

The maximum penalty is nine years in prison.

The jury, which returned its verdict on Friday, acquitted Edouard on three counts of third-degree sexual abuse.

Four women in his former congregation at Covenant Reform Church in Pella say he coerced them into having sexual relations. Documents say the incidents occurred from 2003 to 2010.

Edouard quit his job at the church after the women complained.